Piantedosi Baking Company & The Sugar Factory

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
You're listening to Food for Thought withBilly and Jenny, brought to you by
the Box Center. For more thanfifteen years, this dining duo has been
eating their way through New England,mixing it up with top chefs, jumping
behind the line of the hottest restaurants, and giving you the inside scoop on
where to wine, dine and spendyour time. So get ready, it's
Food for Thought giving you something tochew on. Hey, everybody, welcome

(00:22):
into Food for Thought. Billy Costahere and I've got my good friend Joe
Pianta Dooci as my co host thisweek. Good to see you again,
Buddy, Great to see you.Always fun to be with you. Anything
I'd do with you is fun.I get that a lot. I'm a
lot of fun. No, I'mkidding. What's new at Piantre Dosi Baking?
Just busy. We're plugging along.We're doing more retail than ever before
we started during COVID. We're doingsupermarkets from southern Jersey to northern May now,

(00:46):
something we really stayed away from foryears because we mostly food service restaurants.
You're growing more than you couldn't getany bigger. You're the bread cake
and always get bigger. But we'rewe're doing. It's tough today with business
and stuff, as you know,and yeah, restaurants are struggling a bit,
so it's actually great that we wereable to jump into supermarkets. Well,
you're my best friend in the world, and I tell you all the

(01:06):
time, nobody I know travels morethan you do. I do a lot
of travel. I'm getting sick ofit because I'm getting old and it's getting
a little tiring. And we've talkedabout going through security and airport delays,
like delays and everything. Because youhave an operation in Florida for the most
part, well, we we distributeto Florida. Florida probably our second biggest
state for food service, so Igo back and forth. They are quite
a bit, but do a lotof conferences. A lot of our restaurant

(01:29):
chains have annual conferences which I attend. So it just keeps me busy.
Trade shows where we're doing the bigfight show this. And it all started
as a local bakery with your dad. How many trations where the fourth my
son is now my son and mytwo cousins, well, my partner's their
three sons are in the business.So speaking of your son, Jared.
I thought he was coming with you. Yeah, he got he was busy

(01:49):
today. He he couldn't make ita little radio program and sent his best.
He's doing a lot of he's amarketing person at the company now.
And now I see the little pictureof the horse and wagon. It didn't
really start with the horse in Mygrandfather came from Avellino, Italy, and
he bought a blind horse because hecouldn't afford a healthy horse and a wagon.
And he bought a blind horse becauseit was cheaper. It was cheaper.

(02:12):
How did the horse know where thehell it was going? My grandfather
said, the horse knew exactly becauseI never knew this. He delivered house
to house and the horse knew thehouses to stop at. That was my
grandfather told me that story many times. And he lived in Everett and used
to travel to the North End everyday, which was the Everett was considered
the country then, and he woulddrive to the North End. He would
buy bread and other produced items fromstores and bakeries in the North End and

(02:38):
delivered them house to house and evertthis goes back to the nineteen twenties.
What do you think he would thinkif he saw the operation today, he
would be shocked. I don't thinkhe could even fathom. But your father
was alive, yes, sure,When Pianre Doci had gotten bab my father
was known. They used to jokeand say he was equipment happy. He
was the one that really revolutionized modernizedthe plan. He was a firm believer

(03:00):
in state of the art equipment toproduce the mass, produce the product,
which really helped us. And hetraveled the world and kind of integrated different
piece of equipment to make our typeof product, which they told him back
in the day that it was unheardof it and it couldn't be done.
And he and designed through conveyor beltsand everything. So he basically was the

(03:21):
one that did designing of the planas we know today, and now it's
a common thing in Bakries to beas modernized as we are. What do
you think your father would think ifyou came to know or realize, and
you know, God bless him,I'm sure he's listening right now. What
do you think you think about thefact that Pianta Dosi bread is in Dodger

(03:42):
Stadium, Yankee Stadium, Rocky Stadium, like full stadium baseball parks. He
was funny because he was more ofan operation production guy, and he always
he was almost like Dave Thomas fromWendy's. He just said, make a
good product and people will come.You don't need to go out and knock
on doors and sell. And backin the day, we didn't have the
competition, so we really didn't haveto. So I think he would be
amazed and surprised, but even evenshocked. I think he felt we were

(04:06):
a local bakery and he turned downbusiness back in the seventies, national and
out of state business because he felt, Wow, it's raight on what we
do best in that self. Youknow, fresh bread locally and not freeze
and ship. Well, you saylocal. I got to remind people you
have a giant warehouse literally two orthree blocks from the iHeart studio, I
mean plant is yeah, and peoplecan come in off the street and order

(04:29):
a fresh bread literally hot out ofthe oven. Yep. We have a
takeout window now that's open six daysa week and people come in and purchase
right there. If you know,that must be a big deal around holidays,
right, People come in in themorning, they want to get their
bread nice and fresh. Absolutely.Wow. What do you think your dad
would think about you walking around inred shoes and matching red glasses? You
would like my dad if you marryhim. Was very low key, yeah,

(04:50):
very unassuming, unlike unlike me,he was. He was just a
low key, quiet guy, thoughta lot before he even opened his mouth
to say anything. So we're verydifferent. I think I'm more my mother's
outgoing person out than my dad.My dad was just a He was a
really good guy, and I it'sfunny you you realize the the longer he's
been gone, the more right hewas and everything I used to disagree with

(05:14):
him with you even then he didhe did, and I disagree. We
always we got along very well,but we were totally different personality and late.
What do you think he would thinkabout his son having his own radio
show? Uh? Well, healso liked to the end of the radar.
He didn't. I didn't like tohave any limelight or I think that
would I don't know. Croud deepand said, excuse me, when he

(05:34):
listened to your show. He wouldlisten. He would have because he watched
me doing shows with you, likewhen he was still alive, and the
radio show is basically an extension ofthe generations of beingander done called breaking bread.
So you know, but he justfelt. You know, you make
a good product, people will calm, people will buy it. And where
do people find your radio show?Well, you're a part of the iHeartRadio

(05:54):
broadcast network. Like you, Billy, I like that. Say, I'm
on two stations. I'm on wiKO Saturday afternoons two pm, six eight
a m w r K O andthen again Sunday morning on five eighty am
w t A G and Worcester.Then it goes in a podcast so people
can later that week. I'm gonnaguess your son Jared handles the podcast and

(06:15):
all of that. Yeah, it'sit's feeling me. But you kind of
partner with with the Whitley Wiley,who is a great guy, one of
the nicest guys. He really is, and speaks highly of you all the
time of woking bites. Well,Pat Whitley is the god. None of
us would be doing food radio orfood television without Pat Whitley. I mean
he's the legend. He's the onethat started it all and he's still very
active. He does the voiceovers withScott's show Wicking Bites, which is I

(06:40):
watched the show Wicking Bites on Nelson. He's the announcedents, and yeah,
he kicks off every episode and it'sgreat to hear him. All Right,
we're gonna take a break because thisis a big weekend in the city of
Boston. Once a year they havethe New England Food Show. It's now
called the New England Restaurant and BarShow, and you're gonna be set up
there and you're gonna be broadcasting liveSunday morn Sunday morning, okay, with

(07:03):
you this morning from ten to noon. And then we were exhibiting Pianado'speking Companies,
exhibiting for the two day show.All Right, we're going to take
a break right here out of timefor this segment. When we come back,
I want to talk more about theFood Show, and I'm going to
be doing something at the Food Showanyway, it's Food for Thought and also
in studio. We haven't introduced youyet, but Bonnie Taylor is here to
talk about sugar Factory more than twentylocations around the country and they've got a

(07:28):
brand new one out at Fanuel Hall. We'll take a break, we'll be
right back. You're listening to Foodfor Thought, brought to you by the
Box Center and Salem Waterfront Hotel insweets. Hey, folks, welcome back
to Food for Thought. Billy Costahere, I've got Joe Pianderdosi not only
is a guest, we're going toserve as my guest host this week.
They happy to do it. Alwaysfun. We were talking about your radio
show right before we went to breakand again it's on URKO and okay,

(07:53):
so what's it about? Well,what kind of people do you have on
your radio? Name it people fromthe food industry, restaurant tour chefs of
many, authors, politicians, athletes, entertainers. I've had Donnie Osman on,
Regis on all the time. Yeah, Chaz Parmonarian, she's one of
may just pasted John Davidson, edAsner ed all the time. How did

(08:16):
you find John Davidson? Well,you have a good producer, your son
Jared. I did my research.Wow, author's Casey Sherman, Ray Bork.
Oh yeah, right, got alot of your friends with Joe Farrow
and yeah, Tuscan Kitchen, TuscanVillage and uh, you were a really
good friend of Regis Philvin and I'mtrying to remember how that started. I

(08:39):
remember I was doing a shoot forDining playbook at your facility down the street,
and you flew Regis in so hecould host the commercial. Was that
the beginning of it for you region. I actually met my college roommate who
you met, Joe Lanna from BCended up working for ABC right out of
college. And I was dating Julieat the time, late eighties and we'll

(09:00):
come home, so you've known himthat long? Yeah. Joe said to
me, Hey, you want toget your ticket to this new morning show
Live with Regis and Kathy Lee.Would you want to come? Let me
check with my girlfriend Julie right time, and she said should go. And
I grew up loving talk shows whereGriffin, Mike, Douglas Carson and had
never heard of Regis in my lifefirst live show I saw, fell in

(09:24):
love with him and his show,got to meet him every time I went
to New York, would go tothe show, and I just hit it
off. We became good friends.And by the way, Kathy Lee is
all over Fox News. Yes shedoes that. I noticed for the balance,
balance of nature, Balance of nature. Will you take three fruits and
three vegetables? Every day and itchanges your whole life. He looks like
she's living in Nashville. She's doingwell. God, they run a lot

(09:45):
of commercials. She's dating a youngerman, j and makeer not we want
to get them as a client.What is it balance of nature? I
think it is. Yeah, shelooks good. God, she really does.
Yeah, she does, and shekeeps keeps. Actually, Joy Philbin
we just that was my next question. She turned just this past Thursday,
February first, was her eighty thirdbirthday. She's living in LA and you
go to Beverly Hills and visit Joy, Phil. Yeah, I used to

(10:09):
go to dinner with her, atleast I went in town. And she's
great. She's doing she's doing great. She's slowed down quite a bit,
but she's still vict. She hasher daughters, her sisters, her grandchild
and all in. She used tohave great arms. Is she she's in
greact she still plays tennis. She'sreally at eighty three. Does she still
live on Nantucket part of the time? No, she's no. I'm thinking
of Kathy. Yeah, no,No, Kathy's you know. Joy is

(10:30):
mostly in Beverly Hills, but shehas a apartment in New York City as
well. Okay, so the NewEngland Food Show is happening at the Convention
Center in Boston all weekend long.And I know you broadcasted earlier this morning,
you did your show live. Icalled in, Yeah, you did.
You are great. You and Randywho you're going to be now doing
a live interview tomorrow on stage.So what is this Because you're connected to
this event in a big way everyyear. I know it's at the Convention

(10:54):
Center, But Randy and I aregoing to be sitting in what area of
doing the interview. Well, you'regonna be in the main stage, center
stage. It's the main room,main stage. And of course we just
spoke, I had we just comesas a keynote speaker. I was there,
you were there for that day yetand we had him on dining playwork.
So it is the main room.Yeah, the main right out on
the show floor. Okay, Andyou and Randy gonna have a nice chet

(11:16):
tomorrow. Believe it was twelve thirtypm. Yeah, yeah, So we
hope people come specifically to see youinterview Randy from Big ninety to two,
who started as your intern. It'sfunny story, Randy, you know I
raised my family in Lynnfield, andRandy went to Lynfield High School and he
called me one day when he wasliterally a junior in high school, I
think it was like fifteen or sixteen, and he said, I was looking
to get some advice. I'm goingto produce a concert for the high school,

(11:39):
and I thought, you can helpme out with some advice. Push
comes to shove and I said,what are you doing. By the way,
I could use an intern. Andhe was the first intern we've ever
had who was still in high school, and we he interned for me.
He was great. We ended upmaking him the stunt guy on the morning
show and had him do some ofthe crazy. We got him arrested.

(12:00):
We sent him out to Conquered StatePrison in a prison suit, an orange
prison suit with handcuffs on, andmade him stand at the rotary outside the
prison and flag cars down, sayinghe needed a ride. Help me escape,
Help me escape. And women weredriving their children to school and were
freaking out. They were all gettingon their cell phones and calling the police
because they thought he was really anescapee. Right, all of a sudden,

(12:24):
you hear sirens. We had itall live on the show, Say
No Randy, go ahead, checkdown another car, Stop another car,
and he said, these people arefreaking out. O caay no, no,
keep it up, keep it up. And then you hear the sirens
about five squad cars coming down routeto and then the prison guards were coming
out of the prison. It forceda lockdown in the prison. The warden
came out face to face with Randyand they dragged him into the prison.

(12:46):
He was arrested and spent about ninehours in a cell until the iHeart lawyers
could show them show up and bailthem out. Had to go to court.
He was fully arraigned and had todo a full summer of community service
at the Boston Food Bank. AndI'm not even kidding surprised you're still on
the air, Billy. Well,we have him on the show now and
again, and we'll play clips likehe went to the Venyuard once and confronted

(13:09):
Hillary Clinton, said he wanted togive her flowers because he felt bad about
the Monica Lewinsky things like crazy stuff. And it's all live talking back to
us anyway. So Randy and Iare going to sit down and we'll tell
a lot of these stories. Hebecause he adores you and you really you
propelled his career like you did somany interns. Well that started. Now
he's a big wig with Big NightEntertainment. Oh yeah, nightclubs and bars

(13:31):
all throughout the ring. Hundreds andhundreds of millions of dollars. Now,
yeah, okay, this kid andimagine you did you really did. He
thinks the world of you and OS'sin his life. Dude, we talk
regularly. I listened to that youintroduced Pe to Randy back when he was
a teenager. And by the way, ironically, my son is now partners

(13:54):
with Randy's company, Big Night Entertainment, because my son is heavy into sports
memorabilia and trading cards, which arehuge now. And who knew I'd like
to have those boxes of trading cardsthat I had for the kids when they
were young. And of course Randybought your old house. So Randy,
then there was that. Yeah,he's a dream he said his girlfriend Karen
at the time, they were bothin middle school, and from middle school

(14:16):
on dreamt about living in my house. Well, Karen used to babysit for
the boys, and then she becamea nanny, and then they bought I
was going to sell the house andwe just called Randy. We never put
it on the market. I said, Randy, you said you wanted to
live here. It's on them.It's going on the market. He bought
the house. I'll tell you youcould not be a better person to interview
him, and he he agreed tospeak for the for the Restaurant Association,
which I'm on the boarder. That'swhy I'm so involved with the show.

(14:37):
Yeah, we exhibit, but I'mon the board and he was mentioned by
so many people. Could we getRandy Greenstyd to talk? Yeah, because
this year we partnered with Bars,so it's bar. He used to be
this restaurant, now it's bar,and everybody thought, who better than Randy
Greenstide. He saw articulate grade onand he said he'd do it in one
condition that Billy Costa sat down andinterviewed. Yeah. I couldn't like,

(14:58):
I said, why did you dragme into They wanted you to be the
one on Monday. You didn't wantto speak from a podium. He wanted
you to be like a fireside chatand that's what it's going to be.
So is the public invited to theNew England frud If there's some connection to
the rest of the hospitality industry.So if you work at a restaurant,
and I usually get if you're interestedin opening, just show up. You
can. You can buy a ticketat the door at the BCEC in Boston.

(15:20):
Yeah, yeah, I was it. Of course, it's been today
ten to five. It's ten tofive Monday, the last day, and
you can you can get tickets rightthere. You can walk, free food,
free samples of alcohol. You've gotsome great ideas about restaurants. Now
it's a party. I don't knowabout the free drinks, and there's tons
of chef demos and other other minorwell, there are other keynotes, but
not as big as wash you andsome of the hard core stuff too.

(15:41):
You'll see all the appliances, thenew technical stuff for nightclubs and for restaurants
and for bars. A pretty coolthing. Well, it's massive. It's
at the Convention Center, for god, and we're doing it for thirty years,
I guess so more so anyway,So my son's got card vaults,
yes, and he's got three locations, one Foxwoods, uh, one at
Patriot Place, and the third oneis at the Garden with a lot more

(16:06):
to open up. And they're calledcard Vaults, and they're doing incredibly well.
I'll tell you get three. Ilove your sons, you know that.
I get emotional every time I mentionedthere, and every time he mentioned
they are three of the nicest,the best kids. I just think they're
they're you did such a great job. And I hope that Jared, God,
he's crying again. No, Ijust get I think of them and

(16:26):
they're just such great kids. Theyreally are. And you should be proud.
No, you up proud. I'mvery proud. My Alex, my
middle one, lives in Delray.He works a treatment and recovery facility down
there with his lovely wife Tony,and yeah, and they're everywhere now.
They've got multiple locations in Florida,they've got multiple locations in New Jersey,
and and he's working it hard andhe's he's saving lives. I mean,

(16:47):
he's changing people's lives. So that'sgoing in. My son Dylan, Uh,
who by the way, worked forRandy for a while and now works
for Oracle and Uh. You know, you have started so many career paths
for people. You don't realize whatthe stuff you've done, and quietly,
not even like as a show boat, at all. And I know,
I mean one of your former internsworked for me for years, were in
my marketing Nikki Nikki Hens and NikkiPandolpho at the time. Yeah, and

(17:11):
so many others. I mean,I think of all the great Rich Damari,
who is one of my closest friendstoday, Rich Damari. That's right,
your nephew buddy, DJ Costa,but he's like the most in demand
nightclub DJ in America. Now,I mean he flies all over the country
DJing clubs Charleston, South Carolina.Anyway, we're going to take a break.
Okay, you're here as a guest, but you're also here as a

(17:33):
co host, and you're a businessman. You've got great questions. And Bonnie
Taylor is in the studio with usright now. And after the break,
we're going to talk about the brandnew sugar factory which opened just recently at
Fanuel Hall. So that's up next. And by this is Food for Thought,
and we'll be right back. You'relistening to Food for Thought, brought
to you by the Box Center andSalem Waterfront Hotel in swedes Hi. Everybody,

(17:57):
welcome back to Food for Thought.Bill cost to hear Joe Pianda.
Do see my buddy is serving asco host from here on in this week.
Good to see you, buddy,Great to see you, and now
we want to welcome. I couldn'tbelieve it. It took us a long
time to book this guest. Ithought for a while we wouldn't get her,
but aj we got her. BonnieTyler as in the story, totally

(18:21):
clips of the heart. I'm kidding, and it's actually Bonnie Taylor. Good
to see you, Bonnie, goodto see you. Thank you for having
me. You saw that Joe coming, didn't you. I've been living it
since I got married thirteen years ago. And oh, so that you're married,
that's my married name. Yeah,very different. Okay, So yeah,
I'm married into the Taylor family andeverywhere I go, yeah, Bonnie

(18:42):
Tayler, and I like, I'msorry to disappoint people because I love Bonnie
Tyler. No, definitely, Idon't want to try. So it's a
big story in Boston Sugar Factory.Was that the original opening date where you
delayed it all with the Fanuel HallSugar Factory because of everything else. That's
yeah, I definitely delayed a littlebit. But we're able to kind of

(19:03):
you know, originally we were tryingto go a little bit before the holidays
to definitely be there. We dida holiday pop up at a bunch of
other locations, but we're able tokind of sneak right in right after and
it's just been it's been crazy.We are packed, reservations full every day,
every night. People are excited.So I think it's you know,
everybody from New England used to haveto go to Foxwood's right to go to
a sugar factory, and now wehave one right here and Fataniel Hall.

(19:25):
And I don't mean any disrespect,it really needed something hot. I mean
for a while they had the hardRock Cafe and they really needed something hotland
years ago. Yes you know whatI mean. And not because tourists from
all over the world kind of Bostonand I wish Faniel Hall. I want
to see Faniel Hall. Yeah.And it's the best location because we're right
on the corner right by Abercrombie,so we have this prime corner. Everybody

(19:48):
walking by sees us lots of greatfoot traffic. But it's also like where
the place that you can bring yourkids, you can bring your grandparents.
It's for everybody, so it's notone of those restaurants like you know we've
all been. It's I can't gohere. I can't bring my kids in
here. Everybody's going to have fun. So it's very approachable, very welcoming,
and the food and the drinks arejust really a lot, like really
playful. It's funny because your firstNew England I think location was Foxwoods and

(20:08):
Jenny Johnson and I took the TVshow there when You Guys opened, and
it was fabulous. It's creative,it's colorful and by the way, Joe,
you can appreciate when we were there, we were there partially for the
restaurant and partially because we got tointerview Nick Cannon. Wow. And we're
going to take a break, butwhen we come back, I want to

(20:29):
know what Nick Cannon's connection, becauseI think you're tied in with a certain
level of celebrity, are a certainnumber of celebrities, and first and foremost,
I want to know why you choseFaniel Hall. But it's Sugar Factory.
You've got to check it out.It's brand new to Boston, and
we'll break it down and we'll talkabout the Sugar Factory after the break.
This is Food for Thought. I'mBilly Costa. He's joking at the DOCI
and we will be right back.You're listening to Food for Thought, brought

(20:52):
to you by the Box Center andSale and Waterfront Hotel and sweets. Hey,
everybody, we're back. It isa for thought. And again Billy
Costa here with my pal Joepana docPan to Doce Baking Company, where quality
is a tradition. You know it, you got it. So we've got
Bondie Taylor here and we talked acouple of minutes ago. Sugar Factory has
arrived in Boston out at Fanuel Hall. Why. Fanuel Hall wanted to be

(21:17):
close to everything, the epicenter ofBoston, so that people are going to
the garden, they can come overreally quickly. We tourists, locals,
just it was where do we go. That's the center, that's convenient for
people accessible, but also we knowTauris a lot of people are trying to
find the sugar factory nearby, andthere we are a destination. So it
really just became the perfect home.And I said the foot traffic, but
the reservations, I mean, weare just packed every day. How many

(21:40):
are there in total? Twenty fourlocations, and that's also US and Global.
So we were in Nasa and theBahamas. We're in Dubai. So
I mean pretty much you can't goanywhere with them. I'm sorry, sugar
factory is in Dubai. Oh yes, Oh yeah, it's funny. I
was going to ask you to nameall twenty two or twenty four. Well,
you know, I can name acouple. Let's see sugar factories.

(22:00):
Where are they. We've got LasVegas, We've got Orlando, we have
Miami, we have Tampa. Wehave Detroit, which fun fact about the
Detroit one NFL draft coming out?Sure, sure, right in front of
our sugar factory. Yeah, hasbeen in I can't talk about Okay,
it might be. So we alsowe said with Las Vegas, we just

(22:23):
opened in Glendale, Arizona. Wehave NASA and the Bahamas. We have
Dubai, we have Abu Dhabi.We also let's see, I said,
did I say Tampa, Orlando rallyingoff Foxwoods Times Square, Daniel Hall,
Daniel Hall. I mean, Igot We're everywhere, but I think it's

(22:45):
we're really that destination for families,Like I've got a ten and six year
old and my kids were like,Okay, when can we go? Yeah,
you banged out sixteen locations. That'svery impressive and I'm sorry for the
ones I mest have you more onthe horizon? There are more on the
horizon very much so us breaking.I can't give any breaking news right now.
I would say stay tuned, checkthe website constantly updating with coming soons.

(23:07):
What are some of your specialty itemsthat you serve? So we are
known for everything being over the top. So actually we were rated the most
instagrammable restaurant in the country. Haveyou been there, Joe, I have,
Yeah, it's Boston yet. Yeah, I was invited to the grand
opening. I was out of town. I would have loved it. Oh,
it was so much fun. Bythe way, who's bread you're serving
over there? We're going to talklater. Make rainbow rolls because our signature

(23:29):
item is our rainbow sliders. Yeahkidding. Everything is big, over the
top, fun and playful. Soour signature sliders are literally served in a
rainbow. And I took my sixyear old and he was like, well,
I want to eat the red onefirst, and then I want to
eat the purple one. And Iwas like, hey, if this is
getting kids to be excited about eatingand not chount Yes, okay, so
we're going to put you to anothertest shows asking about some of the products,

(23:49):
right, and they're all colorful.It's ridiculous. Since Valentine's Day is
coming up real soon, let's startwith that. Okay, you've got Valentine's
specials. What do you hear someof this crazy stuff. I'm gonna ask
you to describe, for instance,the sweetheart stack. So the sweetheart stack
is the pink pancakes that are stackedwhite chocolate chocolate chips. I believe,

(24:11):
I mean everything is strawberry so really, truss letches, pink sauce is the
ultimate berry sprinkle, and strawberry shortcakecrumbs on top. Boy, can this
be ordered like all day long day? This is our limited edition Valentine's Men
you small Valentine's pop up. Actually, if you come to the restaurant now
through February twentieth, the entire restaurantis decked out for Valentine's Day. Only

(24:33):
four locations in the country are doingthis. Really, Okay, back to
the exam. I the Love Struckfettuccini, So the Love Struck fatuccini is
actually something interesting because when you seeit, we've all seen a traditional vodka
sauce of pink sauce. This isactually available as a pink or red Alfredo
sauce. Really it's delicious. It'sserved in a heart shaped bowl. It
is you know, I mean,over the top but very instagrammable a J.

(24:57):
I know you're listening and you're thinking, hey, my next first date,
this is where you say you wantto go. Yeah, I think
I gotta go the sugar factory.And it's a pink fetaccini. All right?
And now when did you hear aboutthe drinks all kinds of valentine celebrating
drinks, right, absolutely, Sowhat are really fun about the Valentine's drinks
is actually how they're served. Sowe have a love letter martini that you

(25:18):
actually get a mailbox delivered to yourtable and you open the mailbox and pull
it out and it's really just eightone eight to kill and strawberries. So
it is so fun and playful.And these are giant too. I remember
everything being bigger than the life.The goblets that you're talking about are the
oversize definitely for sharing all about thepresentation. So I don't know if you
saw fifty cent came by for ourpre opening part and he has a got

(25:41):
What you're saying is he was inthe club. He was, he was
in the candy shop. Come ona Joe, Joe, you get that?
Yeah, I get that? Cluball right? Yeah, he was
by. He was actually I knowyou're talking about Big night. He was
at a couple of big night venuesand he came to us for dinner after
the Celtic and he had We havea candy shop gobblet from him and it

(26:03):
features his brandson Koonyak, and it'sserved I mean, peach, gummy rings,
everything over the top. But everythingis served with dry ice. So
it's all about the presentation all ofour service. And bartenders will ask you
is your camera ready before they pour? And so when as soon as this
thing is poured, I mean,the smoke is going. They're colorful,
they're fun, and it's that's whywe go viral. It's so funny you
say it's the most instagrammable restaurant,because that is very true because you can

(26:29):
search and you'll see pictures and you'renot making it up. They just blow
your mind. Everything from the drinksto the dishes and anyway, we'll got
to talk more. The big newsis Sugar Factory has arrived in Boston out
at Fanuel Hall, and we wantto break it down at you're doing breakfast,
lunch, dinner, brunch, allof that and if so, what
times, what days, And wewant to talk more about the menu,

(26:49):
the regular menu, whether it bebreakfast, launch or dinner. Anyway,
we're talking to Bonnie Taylor from asugar Factory. You're like a national person
for Sugar Factory. Am I am? I'm with the corporate. Wow,
good for you only been there,Bunny. We've been working together for years.
So I handle all the prside ofthe marketing and my team gets to
jump around do all these locations.And last night we were in Time Square

(27:10):
do it a Valentine's And you hadgood training too, because when I met
you were the duncan. So we'retaking a break. We're talking Sugar Factory.
We're talking Piana Dozy Bread and withmister Pianta Doosie my co host.
We'll take a break. We'll beright back. You're listening to Food for
Thought, brought to you by theBox Center and Salem Waterfront Hotel in Swedes.
Hey, everybody, welcome back toFood for Thought. Billy Costa here,

(27:32):
Joe Piandosi is my co host,and we've got Bonnie Taylor here from
a sugar factory which just opened outat Fanuel Hall. Joe, didn't your
wife Julie just go to see youtwo with the Sphere? Yes, you
went with Jared. That was theChristmas gift. And they went to Vegas
just last week and they saw YouTube. Of course we've seen you two several
times yehore, but never in Vegas. Never the Sphere. Wow, what

(27:55):
an experience. It was just Yeah, I wanted to have them on the
billion Lia Morning show to talk aboutthe Sphere. We talk about it all
the times. Yeah, he reallyloved it. It was amazing. Yeah,
the big question everybody's wondering, who'sgoing to be the next artist signed
up for the Sphere. But anyway, let's talk food again. So sugar
Shack, Bonnie sugar Factory. SugarShack is something else. Actually it's a

(28:15):
strip joint. Here's a going onthe combat zone. But really, really
you knew about that. My dadwas the bartender, of course I knew.
Really, Yeah, came home witha bullet is on one night.
Okay, So we've got Bonnie Taylorhere and we're talking about the food,
the menus and everything else. Bonnie, So you do brunch, lunch,
and dinner, but it's brunch everyday, right, every day. Some

(28:38):
of our items, like we havechocolate covered Oreo pancakes, so I mean
you can go really indulgent, oryou can go the other side. We
have a waffle breakfast burger, likean eight ounce burger, meltage head or
bacon sausage, fried eggs, hashbrowns, sausage, greavy all on a
waffle. Which have you opened?We are open? I believe Boston location.

(28:59):
I want to say between like roundeleven is usually sometimes we open earlier
for things. We do do alot of parties, so I want to
say, as people are thinking,we have been having so many birthday parties,
sweet sixteen, divorce parties, privaterooms, private rooms, private space
is best room, which I willsay is especially Valentine's the pink room.
You walk in, there's an entirewall covered in conversation hearts. That's the
decor. Oh that's cool, it'sreally cool. So as we say everything

(29:22):
being instagramble, you could see there'salso a big table. When fifty cent
came by, he had a tableright on our main on the second floor.
So if you want to be thecenter of attention and not have a
private room but be eating in frontof everybody like the celebrities do, we
can do that. We're right aroundyou know, two hundred. But we
have a full bar downstairs so peoplecan walk up, sit down, and
wraps around. The entire first flooralso goes to our candy shop, so

(29:45):
we have one hundred and fifty differenttypes of candy, so if you're waiting
for a table, you can gointo the candy store. Pictures of Chantal
Jeffrey. She was in our floralphoto booth, so I said, there's
photos everything you can do. Thebartenders are all fantastic. They are will
always say, because I will saythe goblet menu that you'll see that we
talked about the goblets hundreds and allof them have a celebrity tie. They're

(30:06):
all fun, familiar size of asmall car. They are massive, meant
to be shared. But or hey, if you were having a really good
night, you would Sean tell JefferysDJing in there. She did, she
DJ'd and she actually brought all ofher like cousins that because she lived in
Boston for a while, brought allof her family with her. So they
had a table right behind she wasdjaying, she was she was behind the
bar pouring drinks. So really agreat person, had a great time and

(30:29):
I think it's you know, peoplewere so excited to see her. All
right, So that's brunch. Talkabout some of the lunch menu items.
So one thing I want to saywith Boston, every Sugar Factory location actually
has a bunch of signature items.So we have some really really fun Boston
specific We couldn't do New England withoutplanning a play on seafood. So you're
gonna be able to get lobster sliders. You're gonna be able to get your
New England clam chowder. We havefried if switch clams, but the best,

(30:51):
like my favorite thing. We havea Boston cream Pie milkshake that actually
has a slice of Boston cream Pieon it. Oh my god. Oh
yeah, we're not counting. Weare not talent, don't exist free environment.
I mean, we just support eachother and all of our goblets too,
which is important thing. I know. We just came off of dry
January. But you can get everythingas a mocktail or a cocktail, so

(31:11):
kids can have them, adults Calvin, or if you're hey, listen,
you're just not into it, youcan have it either way. Nobody misses
out on the fun. So whenI get the call from aj the executive
producer of this program, telling meshe has another first date and she will
go someplace special. If I callyou, you make sure she gets that
really good table that you know.I would say reservations are suggested. We

(31:36):
definitely say if you were trying tocome on a Friday or Saturday night or
after a game, like, definitelyget your reservations in, or if you're
coming with a big party. Becauseright from day one, I mean I
walked in and there was a sweetsixteen or thirteen Firth just going crazy open
late. So we can go tillabout twelve one o'clock. We're there for
the lady day. We we go. If people are there, we're ready
to serve. There's always music playingright always. We've had DJs, we've

(31:59):
had hip hop violinists come in,so it's really exciting the environment. And
also I would say we're a celebrityand athlete fan favorite. You just don't
know who's going to be sitting atthe table next to you. I love
the factor you young, old,everyone in between. Oh yeah, it's
not just for kids, No,it's for and if the kids are annoying
you, you just send them intothe candy shot. They'll just run around
the restaurant taking pictures the whole time. So right now where we are,

(32:22):
we don't have outside seating, butwe said we are right up against the
glass, so we are. Thingscould be coming, but we are.
We're constantly full. So if wesend a j and her first date in,
could you slide in some or something. I'm just saying. I mean,
there's just some cocktails, some items. Because you definitely have a shared
goblet. It comes with two reallybig straws overside straws. That's perfect.

(32:43):
You share them back in the daylike the Hong Kong used to share,
used to get those drinks. Andwith the multiple straw this is like a
scorpionble next level because you have toyou have candy in it too. Oh
yeah, magic happens, well,lots of fun. Okay, now dinner,
what's on the dinner menu? Imean, so our menu is consistent

(33:06):
for lunch and dinner, so youcould absolutely get anything, which I also
love the fact that our items areso shaable, so people are constantly coming
in if they want to do aheavy dinner. I mean obviously our desserts
and like our crazy King Kong Sunday, there's there's the sweet stuff where there's
also the hearty sets. Hold itright there. I heard a rumor the
King Kong Sunday has twenty scoops ofice cream in it. Twenty scoops of

(33:29):
ice cream plus a donut, plusa cupcake, plus candy, all of
the toppings. And you may haveseen on TikTok because some of our locations
have gone viral. There's actually thatour service come out and perform a dance
when they are serving. Oh Iremember that when I was at the Foxes
location. Oh yeah, So wedon't have sparklers, I'll say not to
this point in Boston, we can'tuse sparklers. We do use flashing lights
and everything to get the same experience, but everyone in the restaurant knows if

(33:52):
you've ordered a King Kong Sunday,So sparklers are banned in Boston. Was
the same thing like with like withnightclubs I think like nightclubs in Vegas,
or you can use the sparklers,but it's, you know, a fire,
it's a fire that you can inBoston. So it's a lot of
I don't know that you give meone more dinner menu on them. So
our steaks are really popular to you. We also have tons of salads,
tons of pasta dishes, so it'sreally a massive menu. You can get

(34:15):
anything you want for any faptom whatthe trick of factory start twenty ten?
Okay, so the first location wasin Vegas in twenty ten, and then
I would say by twenty sixteen itjust kind of set off and went crazy.
And if I don't ask, mywife Michelle is going to get mad
at me. Do you do glutenfree? Yes, everything can be accommodated
for gluten free. Everything's noted onthe menu. So there are gluten free

(34:36):
buns you can also get, youknow, let us wrap for any of
our burgers, so special accommodations onehundred percent. Do you cater to we
are very that's always first question asked. Great, it's so good to you.
Yeah, but I always say comehungry, right because their power Now
if people actually consume all of thisand then still go to the candy store.

(34:57):
I see a lot of people walkingout with candy bags. Not gonna
lie like you just you're it's sofunny you get caught up. But I
think our candy shop also has ifyou're there for a birthday party or a
bachelor party, we have the sashes, the tr So if you forgot something
at home, we probably have itin the candy store. And don't worry,
you have to own the doggie bagtoo. With all this, there's
no question people have to take thefood home. Oh yeah, or you
share, right, like the slideranything. Yeah, we talked about the

(35:20):
King Kong Sunday. Don't you havemilkshakes too? We do all of our
over the top milkshakes. Like Isaid, the Boston cream Pie milkshake unbelievable.
There's an it depends on what you'rein the mood for, right,
So you can get a simple chocolatemilkshake, which is not just a simple
chocolate milkshake. We're gonna say likedo you want this on it? Do
you want this candy? Do youwant these peas? Then all the way
we have like a rainbow sliced cakelike you get full slices of cake on
top of your milk shake. Wow, how about the kid's menu? So

(35:43):
I can't even imagine. So alot of the kids. I took my
kids and they actually ended up orderingoff the regular menu because they they saw
the rainbow sliders and they're like,I have to have this my six shop.
But there are the staples, youknow for the picky eaters, the
chicken fingers, the go tos thatyou can do it. You know,
there's wings on the menu, there'ssalads on the menu. So we really
do accommodate to anybody and everybody.But it's all about, you know,
family and having fun and being Wehave amazing mac and cheese balls. They're

(36:07):
fried mac and cheese balls and ared sauce. So yeah, it's it's
very indulgent, a lot of fun, but all delicious. Is that the
Sweetheart mac and cheese or is thatjust for the Valentine's promotion? Okay,
so the Sweetheart mac and cheese isfor Valentine's Day. The regular theat the
mac and cheese balls are all thetime. There mac and cheese lolliposits like
an appetizer. Oh yeah, butthe size of them are I would say

(36:28):
a little smaller than a baseball,So just be ready. So it's not
your grandfather's mac and cheese. Definitelynot no, no, because you know
you go to functions and then havea little So these are the size of
like baseball, just a little bitsmaller than a baseball, like an Aaron
chini or something. It almost feelsa little bigger than her. Yeah,
but I definitely I'm a fork.I have to use a fork when I'm
musum. They're massive. And beforewe go to break you mentioned fifty cent

(36:52):
I know I interviewed Nick Cannon atthe Fox with location. Any other celebrities
that jump out, Oh everybody?So Kendall Jenner and her eight when eight
cocktails, She's got a couplets Kyliehas been there. Jennifer Lopez has actually
held her birthday party there because shebring her kids all the way up to
her mom. We know she lovesShe's a big family girl. Eva Longoria,
I've pitful. He was just inthe Miami location. Again. He

(37:12):
loves to pop in all the time. So this is a celebrity favorite.
And if you walk into any location, you'll see photos on the wall of
celebrities that have popped in. They'reeither holding our cature lollipops. There's all
different kinds of fun things. Butor the goblets which we love, or
a lot of them have signature items. All right, we got to take
a break, one final break inFood for Thought again. I'm Billy Costa
with Joe Piata Dosi, my cohost, and Bonnie Taylor's here from Sugar

(37:34):
Factory. We got to take abreak. When we come back, we'll
break it all down everything we talkedabout, encapsulated versions, so to speak.
We'll take that break. We'll beright back. You're listening to Food
for Thought, brought to you bythe Box Center and Salem Waterfront Hotel and
sweets. Hey, everybody, welcomeback. It is Food for Thought.
Billy Costa, Joe piat To Dosingmy co host this week, and Bonnie
Taylor was here from Sugar Factory newlyopened by the way at Fanuel Hall.

(38:00):
And what are the hours out atVanuel Hall? Yeah, so we start
around brunch lunchtime, so eleven amevery day and we go late night,
so seven days, seven days aweek. We are never closed. We
are there when you need us.And i'd say, for big parties,
try and book out. We've gotbirthday parties that are booking a month in
advance. If you want a spurtinroom or a certain spot, make sure
you get it. In Valentine's Day, Galentine's, Dabu Valentine Galentine's. Yeah,

(38:22):
we've got our pop up going onthrough the twentieth. The entire restaurant
is completely decked out. Only forsugar factories in the country are doing it,
so come in and experience it.It's our signature Valentine's menu that's available
we have those are only going tobe offered from now through February twentieth,
So if people that are doing Valentine'sthe weekend, after time mid week,
it's the whole month. But yeah, things to share, ready to go.

(38:42):
But yeah, reservations are available.You can find us on Open Table
website, Sugar Factory dot com onInstagram. You can go to Sugar Factory
Boston or the Sugar Factory for allthe other locations. Everything takes you right
to it. You can click rightthrough and reservations are done. I always
wonder that if you're going to OpenTable, does that mean you can make
a reservation directly with the restaurant.We run everything through Open Table unless big

(39:05):
parties, we want you to callus directly. So just go to Open
Table and you want sugar Factory Finse, go right to our website. It's
all integrated. You can click itright there. And you've been pretty packed
since you open the doors. It'sbeen even before we've had witless. We've
had to call people because there wasthe you know, with opening dates,
and we said, listen, we'llcall it. Okay, give me the
first day you're open, give methe first I need to be the first
there. I need to see it, I need to taste it. So
we are constantly busy. I saydefinitely at night. Our dinner crowd is

(39:28):
in the late night is definitely full. Lunch is a little bit easier to
get a reservation. But if there'sa date in mind, go for it
now. And Joe, I'm guessingall things Piantre dosy. You just go
to Piantre Dosi dot com exactly,or at Baking dot com, Anthono dot
com. Uh So, the BigFood Show the New England Restaurant ten to
five at the BCEC in Boston.Come by, check it out. Check
out you and Randy Yeah, andyou did your show live yesterday. Also,

(39:51):
you can tune every weekend Sadday SundayWTG at r KO Breaking Bread Joe
Pianadosi. Yeah, So I'll bethere tomorrow Monday at the show. It's
at the Convention Center in Boston.And my former intern who's now one of
the biggest restaurant and nightclub owners inthe country from Big Night Entertainment, Randy
Greenstein, Yeah, is going tobe sitting down. He's being honored.

(40:13):
They wanted him as a keynote ora guest speaker, and he asked me
if I would sit down. Hesaid he wasn't comfortable standing at a podium
exactly you is mentor well, Idon't know about that, but you know
what, it's going to be fun. It'll be an interesting conversation. And
what else do I need to knowabout Piantre docib supermarkets from South Jersey to
northern Maine and check out Market,Basket, Stop and Shop, and many

(40:38):
others. I always wondered about thatplacement thing at supermarkets, like is that
like a tug of war between Itreally isn't a very stort store. You
have to speak to the store managerand depending were in front of the Delhi.
We're in the bird isle. We'rein a separate area. Do you
have spies that go from supermarket tosupermarket to make sure you're getting the proper
placement. We don't. We havepeople at service and go in and make

(41:00):
sure the product is right. Youknow. But is that a discussion you
would get involved with if you goto a supermarket say why is my bread
over here? But you know,you ever do this? Do you ever
just walk into a supermarket and moveyour bread like the whole display because you're
not happy take somebody else's bread andput it in And he's shared to do

(41:22):
the same thing where he's freshen upthe area and make sure there's no other
product in our in our space.Put it that way. It's just the
street kid in me. It issomething probably why I don't own a giant
bread company, okay, because I'dprobably get arrested. Good to see you,
Joe, Thanks for casting Bonnie mybest of all the folks out at
sugar factory, come see us soon. I got money grant you. That's

(41:44):
the new sugar factory at Fanuel Halland we'll see see the million List,
The Morning Show first thing Monday morning, and don't forget Dining Playbook every Saturday
morning at nine, Sunday nights atnine, and now we've got Meat Boston
Saturday mornings at nine thirty, Sundaynights at nine thirty. All of it
is cool on nesting, We'll seeyou. Gotta go up next sixty minutes